Soil Carbon Content with Organic Farming Practices.

Research has shown that conventional farming practices typically lower soil carbon content however the effect of many organic farming practices on soil carbon storage is not known.  Do common organic farming practices using organic amendments raise soil carbon content?  This project assesses the effects of strip farming, pasturing, and composted manure additions on soil organic matter levels with vegetable crop production (either one or two harvests per year).  Soil samples were collected from three organic farms to a 50 cm depth using loss on ignition to measure soil carbon.  Results show the comparison of different farming practices to each other as well as to control soils.  This research aims to show the effectiveness of different organic farming practices and amendments to retain or increase soil carbon storage.